BLT Salad

When I get tired of my favorite dressings (Caesar, Greek, Italian) and want something a little different – and I happen to have an avocado in the fridge – I make BLT salad with avocado dressing.

Avocado Dressing

1 ripe avocado, creamed

1/4 c. loosely packed basil leaves, minced (or a few tsp. dried)

1 small clove garlic, peeled and crushed

Juice of two limes (or 1/2 c. lemon juice)

3 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

1/2 olive oil

BLT Salad

1 Lb. bacon

2 1/2 bunches romaine or bibb lettuce

1 c. Avocado dressing

2 Lbs. tomatoes, preferably red and yellow

1 pint cherry tomatoes

salt and pepper

Heat oven to 350. Place bacon strips on wire rack over baking pan. Cook for approx. 40 min. Place lettuce in salad bowl and drizzle with half of dressing. Cut tomatoes in 1/4″ slices, cut cherries in half. Arrange over lettuce, top with bacon and drizzle with rest of avocado. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

This obviously makes a huge batch. When I made it the other day, I halved the dressing and it has made me three generous salads over the past two days. I just chopped up half a tomato and fried a couple pieces of bacon each time. This is a great recipe for people with diet restrictions because it has no sugar, dairy or mayonnaise, yet the avocado makes it creamy and rich!